2012 College Football

Hey r2, after a poor Iowa football season, at least you can say your Hawkeyes beat a BCS bowl team.

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Only 1 team has been mighty enough to take down the Huskies this year.

See, that's the thing. It all comes down to strength of schedule. Iowa is scheduling BCS bowl teams as non-conference opponents (and kicking the crap out of them). While Alabama hasn't even played a single BCS bowl team yet this year (and played West Carolina in the heart of the season to pad their schedule).

Imagine if Bama had to play Iowa's brutal schedule. They'd be lucky to be .500

The first three SEC coaching hires represent three distinct approaches...Stoops @ Kentucky is a defensive specialist, Bielema @ Arkansas takes over an air attack and will scrap that in favor of a ground & pound attack, and Malzahn is the gadgeteer devoted to the spread. Tennessee is reportdly interesting in ex-Florida assistant Charlie Strong. That will a double dose of "D" to the SEC East. '13 may be very interesting!

Strong turns the Vols & AD Dave Hart down to stay at new ACC member Louisville. The irony...ex-FSU AD may go from one former UF assistant to another in current UNC HC Larry Fedora. Word is he wants a guy with former/current HC experience...that eliminates the "Smart" choice (Kirby Smart asst. @ Bama). It brings in retreads like Butch Davis or even Phil Fullmer. Hart also has ties to Chuck D'Amato but that would take some cogliones to justify the choice.

One of my co-workers mentioned that LSU and Florida are threatening to leave the SEC. Anything behind that?

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I don't see either LSU or Florida leaving for the Big-12 (I think that was the rumor.) It was a rumor started on some board, I think. Bama, LSU, and Florida have been the top 3 teams of the SEC the past 10 years.

Red Invasion Strikes Orlando in 3+ Weeks...our two bowl games feature red on off-red (Rutgers vs VaTech) and a full-fledged red on red (Nebraska vs Georgia). I hope to be seeing green that week...much of the fanbase and all of the teams stay at hotels in the area I work as a pedicabber. Nebraska is making a consecutive appearance and their fans travelled fairly well. Georgia is a given. Rutgers and VaTech??? NJ-ers might be a little sidetracked still by Sandy. As for Hokies, I would hope the enthusiasm is still there despite lower results in the regular season.

One of my co-workers mentioned that LSU and Florida are threatening to leave the SEC. Anything behind that?

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I cant imagine that but if they thought it would make them more money then anythngs possible.

I just got home from work and turned on SportsSouth and they have the 1985 football game between Clemson and Virginia on and all the refs were wearing white shorts. Looks hilarious and I never knew they did that.

Jones has had success twice replacing Brian Kelly at programs and subsequently winning conference titles. UT is a big step up to compete with the likes of Spurrier, Muschamp, Richt & Co. for just a division title.

Congrats to Mik on that big Clemson win! Best game of the bowl season, IMHO. A little ACC redemption against one of the SEC powers. ACC finally looking at a decent bowl year. Even my Chokies pulled in a win and Duke played a solid game. Should finish 4-2 after FSU plays. Happy new year to all.

If enthusiasm displayed by team and fanbase while in town is any barometer of onfield success in the Cap One Bowl, big bad SEC Georgia will also have their hands full today vs Nebraska. The Huskers came to town a week ago and it's been a sea of Great Plains Red everywhere on I-Drive.

Congrats to Mik on that big Clemson win! Best game of the bowl season, IMHO. A little ACC redemption against one of the SEC powers. ACC finally looking at a decent bowl year. Even my Chokies pulled in a win and Duke played a solid game. Should finish 4-2 after FSU plays. Happy new year to all.

Did anyone just see maybe the worst call imaginable in the Mich/South Carolina game? Mich tries a fake punt and gets very close. The measurement is clearly an inch or 2 short yet the ref still gives them a first down. Spurrier goes berzerk nd I dont blame him. Clowney takes care of the ****ty call on the next play and almost decapitates the RB, causing a fumble and recovers it but the fact the ref cant even look at a ball sitting still and rule the correct call is unbelieveable.

Looking forward to the Oregon/K State game. Man, that Louisville win really surprised me. UF was outplayed, outcoached and most certainly outclassed by the Cards. Thanks to this bowl season, the ACC (and soon to be ACC members L-ville and 'Cuse) is saying "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated". L-ville played like a team that could walk into the ACC and win it in their first year. What a stroke of luck for the ACC.

Looking forward to the Oregon/K State game. Man, that Louisville win really surprised me. UF was outplayed, outcoached and most certainly outclassed by the Cards. Thanks to this bowl season, the ACC (and soon to be ACC members L-ville and 'Cuse) is saying "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated". L-ville played like a team that could walk into the ACC and win it in their first year. What a stroke of luck for the ACC.

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Charlie Strong did a great job during his time at Florida. I'm not surprised he is having success at Louisville.

Looking forward to the Oregon/K State game. Man, that Louisville win really surprised me. UF was outplayed, outcoached and most certainly outclassed by the Cards. Thanks to this bowl season, the ACC (and soon to be ACC members L-ville and 'Cuse) is saying "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated". L-ville played like a team that could walk into the ACC and win it in their first year. What a stroke of luck for the ACC.

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All of a sudden, the ACC looks pretty solid. Adding Louisville and Syracuse is big. Clemson had a great bowl game as well.

If Oklahoma wins tomorrow night, this will be a borderline disaster for the SEC, regardless of the title game. It makes me feel better, since it's been a disaster this bowl season for the Pac-12, lol.

For them they did. I heard they are 2-13 in their last 15 New Years day bowls. Even the MAC wouldnt do any worse than that.

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Big 10 sent a team that was barely .500 to the Rose Bowl and nearly won (leaving their undefeated team at home). Michigan State was awful this year and won. Michigan, Nebraska, and Minnesota all gave their opponents all they could handle. Minnesota gave their game away. Michigan pretty much did too. Nebraska was playing arguably the 2nd best team in the nation and kept it close for 3 quarters.

I wondering if the Big 10 is a bad as they seem? Or did they just play well in bowls this year? Or are other conferences not as good as we think? Or did they just play down because they were not excited about their opponent?

I really don't know. But I'm not going to judge the Big 10's bowl seaon strictly on wins and losses (we sent Minnesota and Purdue for christ sakes).

Anyway, not my argument as I'm not really a big college football fan.

I see the Big 10 is 2 wins below .500 in BCS history (toward the bottom of the wiki page). 2 more appearances than SEC, but 4 fewer wins. Ohio State is still the winningest school in BCS history with 6 wins (tied with USC) and accounting for half of Big 10 BCS victories.

(And PLEASE!!!! don't look at the ACC record in BCS games).

However, the SEC has won more BCS CHAMPIONSHIPS than all the other conferences combined.

The Big 10 is also contracted into 6 or 7 bowls I believe each year. This year, I don't think they even had enough 6 win teams to fill their full quota. Is anybody really that shocked when Purdue loses to Oky State (look at the teams Purdue beat this year.......and they got a New Year's day bowl.......thus adding to Volley's point about Big 10 and New Year's day losses......who would have thought that the Heart of Dallas Bowl would be a Jan. 1 game).

I know, I was saying that even a looked down on conference like the MAC would be able to pull out 2 wins if they were given 15 chances to play on a neutral field in New Years day bowls.

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Sure. When the MAC's or Mountain West's (Utah) or WAC's (Boise State) of the football world make it to BCS games, these teams are having really good seasons (they have to as they are not BCS schools). Then they get matched up against the worst BCS school normally (becasue nobody wants them, so they get relegated to the worst bowl). So these schools do well in BCS games (not surprisingly).

On the other hand, the Big 10's, Pac 12's, Big 12's, and SEC's, etc of the football world get matched up against each other. Not too surprisingly, they are all about .500 in BCS bowl play +/- a few games.

I'm not really sure where this "all the SEC teams are great and everyone else sucks" idea came into existence. The SEC has their fair share of bottom feeders themselves. Strip away the best team each year (Alabama, USC, Florida, etc), and the conferences have been fairly balanced I'd say.

Big 10 sent a team that was barely .500 to the Rose Bowl and nearly won (leaving their undefeated team at home). Michigan State was awful this year and won. Michigan, Nebraska, and Minnesota all gave their opponents all they could handle. Minnesota gave their game away. Michigan pretty much did too. Nebraska was playing arguably the 2nd best team in the nation and kept it close for 3 quarters.

I wondering if the Big 10 is a bad as they seem? Or did they just play well in bowls this year? Or are other conferences not as good as we think? Or did they just play down because they were not excited about their opponent?

I really don't know. But I'm not going to judge the Big 10's bowl seaon strictly on wins and losses (we sent Minnesota and Purdue for christ sakes).

Anyway, not my argument as I'm not really a big college football fan.

I see the Big 10 is 2 wins below .500 in BCS history (toward the bottom of the wiki page). 2 more appearances than SEC, but 4 fewer wins. Ohio State is still the winningest school in BCS history with 6 wins (tied with USC) and accounting for half of Big 10 BCS victories.

(And PLEASE!!!! don't look at the ACC record in BCS games).

However, the SEC has won more BCS CHAMPIONSHIPS than all the other conferences combined.

The Big 10 is also contracted into 6 or 7 bowls I believe each year. This year, I don't think they even had enough 6 win teams to fill their full quota. Is anybody really that shocked when Purdue loses to Oky State (look at the teams Purdue beat this year.......and they got a New Year's day bowl.......thus adding to Volley's point about Big 10 and New Year's day losses......who would have thought that the Heart of Dallas Bowl would be a Jan. 1 game).

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Michigan St had won 11 games the previous 2 seasons and were preseason top 15, if memory serves (at least top 20). The Big 10 only has 2 winning bowl seasons since 2002 with a few 2-5, 1-6 and 3-5 years in that mix. Ohio St is, by far, the Big 10's best team over the last 20 years and they have good overall and bowl records but they are something like 0-8 in bowls against the SEC in the last 20+ years. They are also pretty much the only Big 10 team in the mix in the BCS era, while the SEC has produced 5 different national champs, plus a few multiple title winners. I think it comes down to the fact that the SEC talks a big game and tends to back it up in the big games. The Big 10 powers that be always mention themselves in the same breath as the SEC in terms of football but that hasn't been the case for 20 years, IMHO. If we go back 50 years, the Big 10 looks great. If we go back 25 years, not so much.

The Big 10 powers that be always mention themselves in the same breath as the SEC in terms of football but that hasn't been the case for 20 years, IMHO. If we go back 50 years, the Big 10 looks great. If we go back 25 years, not so much.

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You don't have to go back too far to find a pretty awful SEC.

It goes in cycles. (25 years ago was the Miami / Florida State / Oklahoma / Nebraska era if memory serves however).

It goes in cycles. (25 years ago was the Miami / Florida State / Oklahoma / Nebraska era if memory serves however).

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But you have to go further than the 60s, which is an eternity in sports. Bama had some pretty dominant teams in the 60's and 70's. Auburn, Georgia and Florida had national titles in the 80's (depending on what poll of 30 choices you use but GA and UF were AP/UPI). Prior to the 50's and 60's, it was a population/resources issue-those big 10 powerhouse schools were home to industry and large population centers compared to the south. Considering that Nebraska and Penn St were not Big 10 members when they won titles, the Big 10 only has two national championships in the last 40+ years, one of which was a split title in '97 (Michigan and Nebraska split the polls).

Sure. When the MAC's or Mountain West's (Utah) or WAC's (Boise State) of the football world make it to BCS games, these teams are having really good seasons (they have to as they are not BCS schools). Then they get matched up against the worst BCS school normally (becasue nobody wants them, so they get relegated to the worst bowl). So these schools do well in BCS games (not surprisingly).

On the other hand, the Big 10's, Pac 12's, Big 12's, and SEC's, etc of the football world get matched up against each other. Not too surprisingly, they are all about .500 in BCS bowl play +/- a few games.

I'm not really sure where this "all the SEC teams are great and everyone else sucks" idea came into existence. The SEC has their fair share of bottom feeders themselves. Strip away the best team each year (Alabama, USC, Florida, etc), and the conferences have been fairly balanced I'd say.

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You dont get what I am saying. The Big 10 gets many of these new years game invites even though they dont deserve it. They are guaranteed births even if their teams are mediocre at best. last year Boise was ranked 7th and still got a ******** bowl where any Big 10 team ranked in the top 20 is pretty much assured a new years day game. If the MWC teams did get mutliple invites they would do as good as 2-13 because its almost impossible to do worse. The 3rd and 4th place teams in the MWC would beat the 3rd and 4th place teams in the big 10 if they played on a neutral field just s many times as they would lose IMO.

last year Boise was ranked 7th and still got a ******** bowl where any Big 10 team ranked in the top 20 is pretty much assured a new years day game. If the MWC teams did get mutliple invites they would do as good as 2-13 because its almost impossible to do worse.

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So I assume you were excited to see Northern Illinois get their shot? Made for a great game didn't it? I'm sure the Orange Bowl was really happy about it.

The 3rd and 4th place teams in the MWC would beat the 3rd and 4th place teams in the big 10 if they played on a neutral field just s many times as they would lose IMO.

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So we have San Diego State and Air Force taking on Michigan and Penn State. None of the teams are worth a damn, but I'll go with Penn State and Michigan (oddly enough, our Rose Bowl team Wisconsin is the 6th ranked team in the Big 10 against conference opponents and overall record.......and they nearly beat the #1 Pac-12 team.....and I'd agree, that Wisconsin didn't deserve that bowl game at all).

What i'd like to see are the 3rd and 4th place SEC teams (Florida and LSU) take on some clowns from the Big East like Louisville or worse yet, some joke from the ACC like Clemson. We all know the SEC can't lose to undeserving conferences like those.

(why the obsession with New Year's day bowls vs. BCS bowls? As the wiki link shows, all the top conferences (except for the ACC) are basically .500 in BCS bowls).

So we have San Diego State and Air Force taking on Michigan and Penn State. None of the teams are worth a damn, but I'll go with Penn State and Michigan (oddly enough, our Rose Bowl team Wisconsin is the 6th ranked team in the Big 10 against conference opponents and overall record.......and they nearly beat the #1 Pac-12 team.....and I'd agree, that Wisconsin didn't deserve that bowl game at all).

What i'd like to see are the 3rd and 4th place SEC teams (Florida and LSU) take on some clowns from the Big East like Louisville or worse yet, some joke from the ACC like Clemson. We all know the SEC can't lose to undeserving conferences like those.

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I didnt think Northern Illinois deserved a BCS game. Boise had to prove themselves over a 4-5 year span before they ever got a shot like that and they were ranked pretty high all year long, where no one ever imagined No Illinois getting into a BCS game until the day it was announced. I am for the little guys not getting screwed but No Illinois going to the Sun bowl or something like that would not have been scrwing them.

You can take those Big 10 teams all you want but 2-13 says all you need to know. They play so many games at home during the season that they get shell shocked when they play on the road and thats why i said MWC vs Big 10 on neutral fields would not be a dominant showing by Big 10.

I was at the game last night. It was a really great performance from Oregon. Very proud of the way the team, specifically our defense played.

Now I just hope we don't get hammered too hard with sanctions. Hoping for no bowl ban.

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Nice win, Big. The O didn't surprise me but holding K-State on the D side was impressive. Chip's a great coach and the NFL makes sense. He's elevated the program and I don't think the Ducks will skip a beat.